the president has laid out a big plan. majority leader harry reid and the senate democrats have said we want to work toward a big plan to reduce this deficit by at least $4 trillion over the next ten years. >> senator durbin -- >> we've got to do this. >> my question is, is whether president obama is the one to really lead this? there are some progressives as well as republicans who say that he has been late to this negotiation, late with ideas and late to provide leadership. >> david, let me tell you, if you could have been in the white house cabinet room, as i was, for six separate meetings, and watched this president of the united states patiently listen to each member of the leadership in congress lay out their ideas of where to go and how we can do this together, if you know that he started the meeting saying "i'm putting everything on the table" so that we can have a reasonable, comprehensive approach to it, you saw real leadership in action. i can't think of another president in my memory who would have devoted that